18 dead in attack on Burkina Faso restaurant

OUAGADOUGOU: Security forces in Burkina Faso’s capital ended an assault Monday against suspected jihadists who opened fire on a restaurant in a “terrorist attack” that left at least 18 people dead, the government said. The attack that began Sunday night in a Turkish restaurant popular with foreigners also left a dozen people injured. Two assailants were later killed, Communications Minister Remis Dandjinou said. It was not clear how many gunmen were involved. “The operation has ended” but searches are continuing in the Ouagadougou neighborhood around the restaurant, Dandjinou told a press briefing carried on social media. The Istanbul restaurant is just 200 meters from a hotel and cafe targeted in an assault in January 2016 that left 30 people dead and 71 wounded, many of them foreigners. That attack was claimed by the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) group.